Iraq snapshot.
Chaos and violence continue.
Today in Iraq, CBS and AP report that a car bomb "near Ana town" wounded two. While the AFP notes car bombs in Baghdad that resulted in at least three dead and at least eight wounded. And the bombing of buses in Kufa has killed at least twelve and wounded over forty. Khaled Farhan (Reuters) reports that: "The bomber drove his car between the two Iranian coaches as they arrived at the Maithem al-Tamar shrine".
Corpses?
KUNA reports that six corpses were discovered in Kirkuk, Reuters notes "a beheaded" corpse was discovered in al-Zab, AFP reports "the discovery of 35 corpses of the last 24 hours, despite a three-week old security crackdown in the capital". The "crackdown" we're not supposed to notice the failure of.
Among the many of victims of violence has been Alaa Hassan. Hassan, 35-years-old, was an unembedded journalist who died in Iraq Wednesday June 28th: " When Alaa crossed the bridge Jun. 28, gunmen sprayed his car with machine-gun fire, killing him with six bullets." Aaron Glantz remembers his sometimes co-writer in "A Story IPS Never Wanted to Tell" (IPS). Hassan and Glantz co-authored: "Basra Begins to Fall Apart" (IPS) and "U.S. Military Hides Many More Hadithas" (IPS). (That's not a complete list.)
Meanwhile Nouri al-Maliki, puppet of the illegal occupation and the current prime minister, turns chatty. KUNA reports that he says Iraq is "determined to hound the 41 outlaws" (including Saddam Hussein's daughter) and again bragged about how tight he was these days with the so-called insurgents. He then began recounting his whirlwhind trip in recent days (when he might have better served Iraq by addressing the issue of the alleged rape and murders in as they were happening as opposed to waiting over five days later to even make a public comment) but somehow left out the assurances he gave everyone about how 'stable' Iraq is now and how they should start investing. Though one might expect such statements to be greeted with loud laughter, greed knows no reality. IRIN reports: "Kurds approve foreigner-friendly investment law" and Reuters reports "[a] top United Nations envoy" was in Baghdad today to extoll the IMF and World Bank, and to promise international aid and support provided "Babhdad will commit itself to a series of yet unedfined political, economic and security steps."
Bloomberg notes this on al-Maliki and others' attempts at a peace 'scam': attempts at Happy Talk: "Harith al-Dari, who heads the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, told AFP on June 30 that the amnesty offer was meaningless because it excluded those who had targeted foreign soldiers. He also said most insurgent groups had rejected the plan because it offers no timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, AFP reported.
As noted during WBAI's Pacifica news break at noon anchored by Mitch Jeserich*, Ehren Watada was charged by the Army yesterday for his refusal to serve in the illegal war. Hal Bernton (Seattle Times) notes that "Watada said he was morally obligated to obey the Constitution, not what he claimed were unlawful orders to join in an illegal war." Courage to Resist notes: "Supporters in Washington State’s Puget Sound area will gather . . . July 6, at 5pm over Interstate 5 on the Exit 119 overpass (adjacent to the entrance to Ft. Lewis)."
In other news, Mitch Jeserich also noted: "Anti-war activists are at the White House" protesting with CODEPINK and, as Medea Benjamin stated, hope to encourage the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do as was done during Vietnam, give harbor to the war resistors.* The fasting is to put pressure on the administration and Congress to withdraw US troops from Iraq; to say no to permanent bases; to create "a massive reconstruction effort but with funds going to Iraqi, not U.S. contractors." For more information, click here.
And in trash news, does editing the Independent for a publicity stunt mean London's Independent goes easy on you? Apparently so as Andrew Buscombe works over time to defend the piggish 'rock star' Bono.
Fat and happy, if not exactly peaceful, Bono has long decided to play his own version of corporate raider (picking off the bones of others) but Buscombe appears unaware of that as he rushes to provide cover for Bono's part in releasing a videogame that brings the "joy" of declaring war on Venezuela to your own home. Unlike an earlier game Bono was involved with ("unwittingly" Buscombe would no doubt rush in to say), Mercenaries 2 World In Flames does not appear to have been financed with either US Defense Department money or CIA money. While Buscombe provides Bono with so much cover he's practically spooning him, Wednesday's KPFA Evening News provided a more in depth look at the "rock star" and his business. Though quite happy to put out videogames where one gets to attack Iraq or, now, Venezuela, Bono infamously told Jann Wenner, for the November 3, 2005 issue of Rolling Stone, that he didn't feel he could "campaign" against the illegal war in Iraq. Though he may suffer from "War Got Your Tongue?" that doesn't prevent him from profitting.
*Note: Thanks to Ruth for passing on both Mitch Jeserich items.
Betty here, C.I. up there with "Iraq snapshot." Thanks so much to Kat for blogging her last night. I told Rebecca I'd fill in (gladly) for her while she was on vacation but the brain wasn't firing on all cylinders and I didn't realize I'd be doing my first post on Wednesday. Wednesdays, I rush from work to the day care, to the house, to the kitchen, to the kids' rooms, to the car, getting them fed, dressed for church and to the church. Wednesday's are just busy for me.
So I blog at Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man and it's an comic blog. There are always questions about it (to me and to others including Rebecca) so Rebecca thought it would be a good idea to make the first post about that.
First off, I don't know Thomas Friedman and, honestly, wouldn't want to. I'm not doing a parody (or "parady" as one guy insisted). I'm doing a satire in the tradition of movie satires (Scary Movie, Hot Shots, etc.).
Second, I get a lot of help from Kat and C.I. who always listen to every draft I'm working on. They know my outline and there are times when I'll forget a point and they'll say, "That's good but you know ___ is coming up, right?" Sometimes I don't. I forget. They also are very generous with their praise and encouragement. I had a problem with an opening paragraph awhile back and C.I. reminded me about a way Kat opened a review. It would work perfectly. I called her and she said, "Use it." So I swiped her opening set up.
C.I. will also go through all my drafts when I'm ready to give up and not post anything and piece together something from one draft and another . . . Then I'll get that in an e-mail and realize that in all those drafts, I had something I could work on and polish a little.
Is it ever perfect? No. If I could, I'd rewrite everything that's up there and not just for typos.
There are times when I will put off posting until the very last minute because I think "One more swipe will make it funny" or that something could be better.
I love a number of writers but I have so much more respect for them now. I don't know how Alice Walker, one of my favorites, ever lets go of anything. It probably helps to not only have talent but style, but I'm still surprised she's ever ready to send anything out into the world.
It honestly makes me worry how I'm going to be when my kids grow up and are ready to move out. If I'm that way with my chicken scratch, how am I going to be with my kids?
Why Thomas Friedman? He gets on my nerves.
Why comedy? I like to laugh.
What's Betinna's story? Betinna doesn't remember her past but that's come out a bit, past moments and more is coming.
Is it fun? When there's time, it's fun. More often than not, I'm grabbing any time I have and trying to come up with something.
What am I happy with? (Rebecca got the question from Sherry who thought I was too hard on myself. Sherry's very sweet to think I'm being too hard.) I'm happy that I've stood up when others were silent. I'm proud that I've said I'm against the war while others stayed silent (while some still stay silent). Betinna's against the war too.
I won't hide behind some nonsense of "I would like to come out against the war but . . . " There is no but. If you're against the war, you say so. But there are a lot of people who can't or won't.
Hopefully, on a good chapter, I've brought a non-White, non-corporate view to the world of Thomas Friedman.
Why don't I answer e-mails? I do. If it's not someone spewing racist nonsense, I do. It may take a bit because I don't read my account all the time. Elaine gave me a good piece of advice which is, if it's upsetting me, take some time off. So when I get the third or fourth e-mail that reads like the KKK just learned to type, I'll take two weeks off from the e-mail account.
Why do I have a wide range of music I listen to? I really don't listen to music lately. I got a promotion at work and it's been an adjustment. I think I'm almost on top of it but it's been a great deal of work getting there. So I haven't had time to listen to much music. In better days, I love music and my whole family does. I love classic soul and r&b but I was exposed to a great deal more as well. If it's 60s pop or rock and roll, someone in my family was into them. I opened with a Soundgarden song recently and that's a group I got to know when I was dating a guy. I remember music more than anything else.
I'm saying that some people will remember they met a friend or a lover by what they were wearing. To me, it's always by a song. Even if music isn't playing, I'll think, "He's like Madonna's 'Rain' or she's like Jill Scott's 'Try.'" The first thing I want to know about a person is what kind of music they listen to and why they like who they like.
I think that covers the questions. So I'll be filling in while Rebecca's on vacation. Some nights it will be quick, some nights it may be longer. I won't be blogging on Wednesdays. I'm looking forward to filling in for an extended period (I filled in for one day before). Rebecca says, "Just toss out there, don't worry about spelling, don't worry about grammar or typos. Just keep it real." I can do that. And there's none of the "I can't post this, it's crap!" feeling that I get at my site. (That's not saying my post tonight isn't crap, just that it's okay if it is. I have another day and then another.) Hopefully, I'll have something to offer some nights.
